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Taxotere, Carboplatin and Herceptin

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  • Lisa1964
    Lisa1964 Member Posts: 760
    edited January 2009

    Ladies!! Update on my doc appointment today.  Sorry for not responding individually but I am toast!  Yes, I had really low counts!!!  Red count was 7.5Surprised  That explains the fatigue, chest pains and shortness of breath.  I got two bags of fluid with the tx today.  Had to go the hospital after tx to get  crossed and matched for blood.  Will be back at the hospital out patient at 8:30 in the morning for 2 pints of blood.  The nurse was really nice and told me to expect 6 to 8 hours!

    I know I will feel so much better after I get the blood.  Thanks Carolyn, Brenda, Blue and whomever I missed.

    Brenda, those Jack Russells are a handful!!  My friend swears she puts up with them cause they make up with it in love and affection! Good for you and your fuzzy friends.


    Dang - edit - forgot Bold!!!  Bold, the second one might be a bit better, you just never know.  Cutting off the hair is a real good idea, sad but true.  Keep us posted!!

    Lisa

  • gk2bc0
    gk2bc0 Member Posts: 18
    edited January 2009

    Hello Campers!

    Fare the well Shelby...thanks for the advice, humor and song. Now go have a good healthy rest of your life!  thanks for the mammaries.

    HensonChi - my last of 6 TCH treatments was on Oct 30, just after you. Your regrowth is just about where I am. Do you also have neuropathy?  my toes are numb and yet hurt at the same time. My toenails ache when I get into bed at night and the blanket hurts. Other than that, energy level is finally on the upswing.  I'm doing H every 21 days, the next is Jan 30th, scheduled to finish in mid July.   

    Bethany and others going or on Arimidex -I'll be interested to hear how that goes. I may still be perimenopausal (at54!) and we know Tamoxifen doesn't work for me (this is a recurrence and i was on that) so they may want to go for the ovaries next, since you can't take Arimidex until post menopause.  There's a drug called Tykerb for metastatic cancer after Herceptin.  Maybe like H they will make that available to early BC patients at risk for recurrence.  Medical research is moving very quickly in this area, fortunately for us. 

    God bless America...nowhere else on earth is there such a peaceful transfer of power. Bless ujs all!  Gail

  • Lisa1964
    Lisa1964 Member Posts: 760
    edited January 2009

    gk2bco.  My big toenails hurt on the sheets too!!  Damn!  They are not disclored or lifting, no redness on the skin, just tender on the sheets,.......Well, here goes another delusion!  I guess time will tell....

    Lisa

  • Bold
    Bold Member Posts: 306
    edited January 2009

    Rochstar Paula:The hair lost started for me at 17 say passed first treatment. I took 12 inches of of it as I have always had long blond hair. My husband did the first snit and the I styled it, It look Great I loved it wish I had of cut it sooner just for that style. With in 4 day It was time ti shave it. It start to mate and the hair loss is a t a profuse rate. Soooo shave it I did. It did not take very much courage as I we prepared. I try to be realistic and walk thought the total shittyness of it just one. Thereis no other way so I would like to do it with grace, Granted it is not easy and I have some real sod moment but for right now I have it under control I have tuns of wigs each named with a back story, Lots and lots of hats, and little pieces to use as bands or just the back of where my hair use to be. Remember Tyra Banks wears a wig every day. And she looks MARVELOUS. So can we so lets rock it.

    Relax about your heart a little keep an eye on it but please try not to obsess. I will cause dis-ease. Ask you Onc. For your Muga score or echo cardiogram is and that would put your mind at ease.

    I hope that I have been helpful. I have started walking around the house commando (head only). And I think that it desensitizing my family. It helps me to. It has been in the 80 here in Sunny California .So it feel much better bald and beautiful.

    Just has TX two to day and am on top of the word so far always love the good days.

    Shellbarconi: I too will miss you. You have an edge that I will mess. I worked on main stage Second City in Chicago for many years main stage. I Freak like I have know a small part of you through pushing the envelope on your audience. Always good to shock and offend (just a tiny bit). Anyway You are  an artist and I hope you die of old age. surrounded by everyone you Love that could comfortably fit in you tiny room. The press will have to watch the Plasma scene in the atrium. The price of your art work will be in the millions. God bless you sweet thing, Hope for you all good all the time.

    Survive

    In Solidarity.

  • gramma23
    gramma23 Member Posts: 482
    edited January 2009

    Shelby, I am sorry to see you leave but I know you will have to peek in from time to time. I hope the best for you and your family. I guess I will know when to leave too but right now so many are starting tx and I have had the experience I hope to help them. I am doing rads right now and I am so tired of going downtown every morning but I am trying to get back to work which hard since I didn't like that job anyway. I do miss the customers who have checked on me all the time and left little notes for me. They are so happy I am back so how can I not be happy?

    The loss of the hair is sad but you get used to it and on the days you don't feel well it is a blessing not to have to fix it. I am wanting to get my hair back now though. I am tired of the hats and scarves but it is cold here and if it was not I would go without them. I have fuzz but my eyebrows are thinner now than they were during tx. What is up with that. I do have the tingling in my toes and fingers at times but not enough to keep me awake and it is getting less all the time so I hope it is gone soon.As for the Arimidex I have no hormone involvement since I had a complete hyst when I was 29 and I am almost 62 now and I had quit taking the HRT several years ago. I guess that was a blessing for me and I thought all I had left was vital organs to remove but forgot about the boobs. I just had lump and nodes removed so it is not too bad. I am getting kinda of pink but I am using the cream I begged from them and the soap they recommend. I am trying to do what they say after seeing the mess some are in on the rad site. If I ever get that burned I will say stop and maybe before I get like that. I am not happy with the radiation dept as it is. Too bad we have to put up with that.

    Well I must get ready to make my way down town. We had to go several different ways yesterday just to get home because of the Martin Luther KIng celebration and then road construction everywhere. I thought we could not get home for a while. I work today. Yuck! I do better after I am there.

    Carolyn

  • my2boys
    my2boys Member Posts: 124
    edited January 2009

    Cupcake - Thank you for your response.  I spoke with my doctor today and she said I am not diabetic, but she thinks that the tingling and pain in my toe is caused by the chemo.  She is optimistic that it will subside once the treatments are done.

    Tx #5 tomorrow......sigh.  My muga score was bit lower than last one, but not enough to cause concern, so we will forge ahead through these last two treatments.  My doctor was very supportive and kept reminding me that I'm almost there.....just a little while more.

     Paula....As far as hair loss goes....I never lost ALL of my hair.  There is still enough on my head to look like a very short crew cut (I had my head shaved by day 20 of my first chemo).  It was falling out by the handfuls when it was longer, but it slowed down after I had is buzzed).  It is extremely thin, but not bald by a long shot.  Some of it has already begun to grow back.  It looks pretty funky so I wear a lot of hats/scarves/wigs.  The only other hair on my body that fell out was the hair on my legs.....I look at that as a blessing!  Did you visit heavenlyhats.com?  They will send you a box of hats to get you through this difficult time.  When my box of hats came, it brightened my day and the hats were gorgeous winter hats that I wear almost everywhere.

    Good luck everyone!

    Anne

  • bluedasher
    bluedasher Member Posts: 350
    edited January 2009

    Anne, good luck on the last two treatments. There will be a group of us finishing up at the same time. I'm scheduled for treatment 5 of 6 tomorrow and Lisa just got hers.

    I never lost all my hair either. I think about 5 to 10% of my head hair stayed in place, but it looked pretty demented - most of my scalp showing with hairs scattered around so we clippered as short as the clippers allowed. Most of the rest of my body hair went the same way except my eyebrows and  lashes are still in place.

    Tingling toes and fingers can be a Taxotere side effect.  I haven't gotten that, but the tips of my fingers are slightly numb. Fortunately not bad enough to interfere with typing but it feels weird. I notice ripples in my nail growth too but so far they are staying in place. It seems like nail loss usual is pretty late in chemo or even right after when it occurs.

  • Lisa1964
    Lisa1964 Member Posts: 760
    edited January 2009

    Hey guys!!!

    Did not lose all my hair either - but enought that I look bald.  I probably have 10 to 15% of what was real thick hair.  I did not have it buzzed, but almost.  What is left is growing and I am going to leave it alone for now as "cover crop" for the new fuzz I hope to soon be enjoying.

    Cupcake and Carolyn, always perks me up to see you two doing well!!

    I went in for two pints of blood today and I feel like a million bucks!!!  What a difference.  My advice to the new ones - if they offer blood, don't turn it down!!  This morning when I arrived at the hospital, I could barely walk across the parking lot with my laptop case loaded with bottled water and two hardback books.  This afternoon, no problem.  I was really starting to get depressed about being so weak, to the point that I did not even feel great about yesterday being #5.

    20 days till #6 and then Herceptin only!!!  Hooray!!!!!

    Lisa

  • my2boys
    my2boys Member Posts: 124
    edited January 2009

    Good luck tomorrow Blue.  I will be thinking of you.  Glad to hear that you and Lisa are almost done.  Next month is the light at the end of the tunnel for us. 

    Sounds like we are in the same boat regarding the hair issue.  I like that I didn't lose it all, but you are right, it looks demented.  My hubby and kids are used to seeing me this way, but I'm still getting used to it.  My nails have started rippling too.....I guess that time will tell us how they fair the storm.

    Lisa I am glad that the blood helped you to feel better.  I'm happy that you fought off the depression.  Keep a smile on that face and remember....you're almost there. 

    Anne

  • Lisa1964
    Lisa1964 Member Posts: 760
    edited January 2009

    Morning guys!  I have found only one downside to getting fresh blood - they gave me more steroids in the pre-meds UGH!!  Very little sleep last night, but at least I feel good.  I must be mentally preparing myself for the end.  When I did sleep last night I dreamed I had 2 inches of hair just before my last tx - now wouldn't that be a crazy hoot!!

    Blue, good luck today!!!

    my2boys - Thanks for the encouragement!

    Well, good all So. Florida has a wind chill in the high 20's this morning - brrrrr.  Someone needs to set mother nature straight!  As soon as the sun comes up I will have to go out and start pulling blankets off the 8 horses in my charge.  We don't have to do this often, but Fla horses just don't get the long coats for this kind of weather.

    Lisa

  • bluedasher
    bluedasher Member Posts: 350
    edited January 2009

    Arghh! I got a phone message on my work line yesterday from my doctor's office but no information other than a call back number, And they called my home line and told my husband that I needed to get a test before my 8:30 meeting this morning but the nurse wouldn't give him any more information. If they had just said whether it was blood or X-ray or whatever, I would know where to go and if it is in the computer they will know what test to do.

    I was about 120 miles from home for an all day meeting yesterday and they didn't call my cell phone. I wouldn't mind that if they had left a better message on my work voice mail or with my husband.  I got home about midnight - one time I was glad for my pre-treatment steroids but then it would have been nice to be able to fall asleep. Like Lisa, I'm running on very little. I hope tonight will be better - I'll still be on the same dose but usually the second night I'm tired enough to fall asleep better despite the steroids.

    I also noticed that I have little red spots on various parts of my body - especially a lot on my shins. I think they are under the skin but some might be little scabs. I wonder if that is because of my low platelets. It is 81 and the bottom of normal is 140. I hope that doesn't delay chemo.

    On top of that, my nose is even more drippy than it has been on chemo before and my throat is a little scratchy. My granddaughter has been having a drippy nose since before I left on my business trip and my husband and daughter-in-law say they feel like they may be coming down with a cold so I might be getting a cold with chemo - another thing that I hope doesn't delay treatment today - I so want to be done.

    Lisa, sorry about the cold weather. It was unsually cold in the southern location for my business trip last week too. Bundle up and take care. I've also had a couple of chemo dreams including the one about hats so hair or lack of it seems to be a theme. It took about this time for chemo to work its way into my dream world. At least both were light-hearted, not worries. Maybe that says we're coping well?

  • bluedasher
    bluedasher Member Posts: 350
    edited January 2009

    One other odd thing about my platelets. Until now they were holding up pretty well. My reading just before the transfusion was my lowest at 192. Since an adult has about 10 - 12 units of blood normall and the transfusion was 2 units, them dropping to 81 - more than half is a lot more than can be explained by dilution from the transfusion. That should have only dropped them to about 160.

    I wonder if the test my doctor wants is related to that. Well, off to pack my chemo bag.

  • RockstarmomPaula
    RockstarmomPaula Member Posts: 124
    edited January 2009

    Cool Bold: 18 days seems to be the magic number for the hair I had about 6" off mine a couple weeks ago in prepararation for it. my hair gal got me an awesome head of hair for me we are styling it this week, also she is ready with eyelashes and eyebrows! She is a godsend!  My familly is only allowed to call it my hair not a wig. my own crazy quirk! I just got my port in yesterday Its a little sore but glad its over wouldn't go on the right so put it in left Thank God I was healed up from lumpectomy and node removal.10 days out on my 1st treatment have not experienced hardly any side effects don't know how I have been so lucky  but I will never question the powers that be.I am blessed to have these good days!

    my2boys: I am so looking forward to not shaving my legs Thanks for the heads up (haha What a pun)on Heavenlyhats I will check that out I have hair ready but having another option would be great

                                                                                                                                           

  • Bold
    Bold Member Posts: 306
    edited January 2009

    Blue dasher: I will be thinking of you and hope that the explanation is simple and that you feel better and better.

    My liver functions seem to be elevated and my glucose is up a tad too. I have no history and it may just be a part of the whole chemo thang. I would appreciate any in-site that other have experienced. I worry because we all take so many drugs. UGGG.

    Day 3 TX2. I have been super woman on Steroids. Now I think it is time to rest a little bit. I have been cleaning insidiously. Drawers medical cabinets you name it. Enough already. Maybe I just want to live so badly that want to keep in constant motion.

    Lisa:It has been in the 80's here in Sunny California. It is suppose to rain today or tonight and I look so forward to it. Maybe it will calm me down a little. I just love your lifestyle with 8 beautiful faces to look at.I miss riding so much. But I have no horse and no one to ride with. Was not always the case but it is now. So many changes. Some good. Some just different. Some just bad. I welcome the next change to health. I welcome all my sisters to health. Don't forget to envision and breath. 

  • plakatakr
    plakatakr Member Posts: 45
    edited January 2009

    Bold- the steroids and chemo can elevate your blood sugar.

  • bluedasher
    bluedasher Member Posts: 350
    edited January 2009

    The doctor had no explanation for the dots. She said that the level of my platelets wasn't low enough to have bleeding. And we did another blood test before I saw the doctor this morning - my platelets are back up to almost the bottom of normal and my creatin is just inside the normal range. I did trip on an uneven pavement on the sidewalk during my business trip and fall on my knee - she thinks that may have caused it. Also she is worried that my platelets went lower earlier in the cycle. But the red dots showed up on Monday - the same day I had that blood test and I tripped and fell about 5 days earlier so that seems late for causing the dots.

    She also kept asking if I was scratching them, but they don't itch or hurt - I noticed them in the shower when I saw them.

    She wanted to delay chemo because the low platelets show my bone marrow is really not functioning well but I really didn't want to do that when I'm so close to the end. Also I have a business trip scheduled for the third week again and that would have made it the second week when I feel really bad. We compromised by cutting my dose of Taxotere and Carboplatin by 10% but not the Herceptin. Since a lot of stage I women just get 4 treatments and we are just cutting the dose a bit for my last 2 of 6 I think this will be okay. And I'll get a couple of extra blood tests during this cycle to see how my marrow is doing. If the platelets get too low I can get a transfusion of those. She thinks I will also will need another blood transfusion before the last chemo. My red cells and hemoglobin were at the level they were at the beginning of the cycle 3 and then I needed the transfusion at cycle 4. 

    Or maybe we will delay starting cycle 6 by a bit to let my bone marrow recover a bit more.

    She okayed trying backing off on the Decadron (steroid) to 4 mg instead of 8 mg so I can get some sleep. 

    Bold, taxotere can reduce your liver function and raise your blood readings for things you liver should get rid of.

  • cupcake7
    cupcake7 Member Posts: 321
    edited January 2009
    Blue:  I am sorry to hear you are having such a hard time.  Keep in mind all the things you have in your life, like trips, meetings etc. is not more important than your future life without cancer.  I also had a special event that I spent a year to organize and it was huge, but then dx and I tried to barter to start my chemo a couple of weeks later so I could go to it, but my ONC looked at me like I had two heads.  She would not delay my treatment and now looking back I am glad she didn't.  It is hard for us organizers to put our life on hold, and these treatments knock the heck out of our schedule of real life, but you just have to give your life to your cure from this awful disease.  If there is anything I can do for you just give me a call.  All through my chemo I was so careful to stay away from sick people and never once got sick and since then I have picked up my SECOND cold from just going to the clinics for aftercare.  Once from the nurse in the surgery clinic and this last one from visiting member services and the guy had an obvious cold.  I can't imagine feeling this ucky with chemo too.  Hope you stay well enough to get through this round. 
  • gramma23
    gramma23 Member Posts: 482
    edited January 2009

    Hello to everyone I am so happy many of you can see the end of chemo. I had low platelets every time I got a blood transfusion which was 4 times and the last time my platelets fell to 42 but my brother who is real bad has platelets as low as 4. He has had a lot of blood too and he has had a lot of platelets too. They do not give you platelets until you reach the low of 10 or at least at my cancer place it is what they do. My last RBC was 7 so they gave me 3 units and it was after my last TCH. I have had low counts all the way through but only 2 times was my tx delayed. I know it is an inconvenience when you have plans but you must take care of yourself. I had to quit working during this time. It is really hard to get back in the swing of things now. They changed some stuff and I have not had enough time to learn it, I think once I am back to work totally it will be okay since it is not that hard. I also have a bunch of tests to take for work. I wish I had  known so I could have taken them at home at my leisure.

    My nose dripped from about the 3rd tx and I was told it was because of no hair in the nose. It was clear so I was not sick. I would just bend over and it would drip.I kept a tissue for safety sake.

    I had the dots just on my forearm and the onc thinks it is from being in the sun so much of my life but my legs were out there too. I guess my forearms are more likely to get sun but we used to get so dark in the summer. The spots are starting to go away a little now but I can still see them but they are not too noticeable to others.

    The chemo does strange things to your body. My blood pressure and heart rate was all over the place. It is good now and I had my Herceptin yesterday after rads and I felt tired but not too bad.

    Well, it is time to go get radiated. I hope this goes by fast! Oh and the hair dreams is normal. I think we have all had them at one time during this. I know I did!

    Carolyn

  • cupcake7
    cupcake7 Member Posts: 321
    edited January 2009

    I am at a dilemma ladies and need your help.  I just got back from on the radiologist and beings I am border line it is iffy on what to do.  In the beginning the needle biopsy was to small go put a grade on it and now that I had chemo first and then the operation all cancer is gone so they have no way of staging me of how many nodes were involved.  They THINK it may have been a 3 or 4, but no way to tell now.  4 lymph nodes automatically earn you a ticket to radiation, but here I am with no staging so I am border line.  Do I have it or don't I?  What a mess at this point.  The cancer is gone so it is up in the air to give radiation or not.  Most new studies show no.  He said it is a 10% chance of it returning and the radiation may cut that in half..so do I roll the dice and move on or do an overkill?  Why in the world don't the professionals that you trust in the beginning to handle all this let me fall through the cracks.  They not only can't stage it by the nodes, now they can't stage it by the cancer cause there is no tumor found.....Do I know trust these same individuals to help me make a correct decision????????????? 

  • traci1970
    traci1970 Member Posts: 104
    edited January 2009

    I would get radiation.  But that is just me.  I had it 9 nodes but only two were visible.  The others were microscpic.  They removed 20.  I would just want to be sure.  My tumor was growing against (not into) the muscle in my chest. They found that out during surgery and since you did not have surgery with your tumor you really don't know the details.   I know you have to make a decision you feel comfortable with but I would want to knock the crap out of it all at once.  This thing hit us all like a freight train, I want to hit back just as strong.  If you were stage one I would question radiation but anything more I would do the radiation.  Why not play it safe???  That's just me and my thoughts.  I know you will do what is right for you.  :) Traci

  • Lisa1964
    Lisa1964 Member Posts: 760
    edited January 2009

    Wow Cupcake, that is a tough decision, but like traci said, you have been thru so much.  I think I would go ahead with the radiation too.

    Good luck.   Lisa

  • Bold
    Bold Member Posts: 306
    edited January 2009

    Ditto Cupcake: Its just the frosting on your treatment. (Cupcake joke) Seriously I would hit it hard too. I would want to know I 'did all I could. You are a strong and wonderful friend and woman. You have nothing to fear from rads. After Chemo it will be a cupcake walk.

  • cali4
    cali4 Member Posts: 29
    edited January 2009

    I had to have a consultation with the radiation group before I even started chemo.  In my case they had only done a sentinel node biopsy which showed minor involvement in that node.  But based on the size of my tumors (4 cm+) the decision was pretty much made for me prior to beginning treatment that they were recommending radiation even before seeing the outcome of chemo or surgery.

    My TCH #5 is next Wednesday, they seem to be getting progressively harder to recover from, and each seems to bring a new side effect.  This week I've developed numbness/tingling in my fingertips.  Feels like I'm sticking my fingers into a pin cushion when I put pressure on them.  Also having similar exhaustion that Lisa experienced, so I'm expecting that in addition to having a low WBC that the neupogen shots were for, they'll probably find my RBC low on the next go round or pre-chemo labs.  It's always something!

    Hope everyone is doing well.  Will miss Shelby's participation on the board greatly.

  • HensonChi
    HensonChi Member Posts: 68
    edited January 2009

    I lost my hair by the 2nd chemo.  It is coming back slowly.  I have to go for herceptin until next July.  It seems like a long haul to me.  They monitor your heart with muga scans all the way through your treatment.  Let me know how it all goes.

  • Lisa1964
    Lisa1964 Member Posts: 760
    edited January 2009

    Cali4. you are right. Each one is getting worse it seems.  This time I am having a reaction to the Nuelasta shot.  Have not had that happen since the first one.  I feel a lot better since the blood, but I cannot imagine having not had it.

    Lisa

  • cupcake7
    cupcake7 Member Posts: 321
    edited January 2009
    I know most cancer patients have it all together and they know your treatment plan, but I have been wingin it.  I think at this juncture I am going outside to get a second opinion by having another onc outside of my  HMO to look at my records and give me there thoughts on it.  Remember I have a  close friend who is a CEO of Sutter Hospitals and she knows a lot of doctors and she is a breast cancer survivor too.  She is the one who carries a big stick when going to Kaiser...remember her?  She has been my advocate all through this.
  • KristyAnn
    KristyAnn Member Posts: 131
    edited January 2009

    Cupcake,

    I was also a border line iffy patient on the radiation - my sentinel was negative but I had a positive intramammary node. I opted to have the radiation becuase of my age and the high grade of my tumor- even though it was small (9 mm)- my rad onc talked openly about it being a questionable case with radiation as did my onc.

    I personally did not think rads were a cake walk compared to chemo- I had severe fatigue and by the end had substantial folliculitis and burning- I was also working fulltime which did not help the fatigue factor. If you do decide to go with the rads- start putting some good cream- I used aquaphor and also Jeans Vitamine E cream- on my chest and back daily before I even started the rads. I had 4 areas of radiation including my back and the cream really helped with the itching that developed during radiation.

    Kristy

  • bluedasher
    bluedasher Member Posts: 350
    edited January 2009

    Cali and Lisa, each one is getting harder for me too. This is the first time I have had nausea on the day after chemo but the meds are controlling it. My onc has me set up forgetting some mid-cycle blood tests to keep an eye on my platelets and RBC. 

    I've had some numbness in my finger tips too - I started noticing it between Tx 3 and 4. So far it isn't too bad - it doesn't interfere with typing but it feels odd. I wonder how long after chemo it takes to go away.

    On top of the chemo stuff, either my allergies are acting up or I'm seeing early symptoms of a cold so my throat feels icky and I'm having difficulty getting down as much fluids as I should. 

    Cupcake, I'm sorry you have to make a difficult decision without all the data. I hope your outside consultation helps. I'm kind of surprised that they didn't set up a radiation consultation before chemo. I'm with the same HMO but I had surgery first and the surgeon's office set up consultations with both radiation and oncology when they were done with me so like Cali I had my rads consult before chemo. 

    I've heard of some folks that do chemo followed by surgery getting an SNB before chemo and then the surgery and, if necessary, the full axillary node removal, but then that means two surgeries to recover from. I think it would have also delayed the start of chemo because the incision has to heal somewhat before they start the chemo drugs which can interfere with healing. Maybe that is why your onc didn't do it that way since she advised not waiting two weeks before starting chemo. 

    I'm a little confused that you said that the needle biopsy was too small to grade the cancer but your sig line says it was grade 3 - did they do another biopsy to get that? 

    Would rads be for just the breast are or axillary too? I thought that they do it for the chest when the tumor could have been close to the chest wall. I'm not sure why the number of nodes would matter for that.

    The meetings I'm going to are for technology that I've been working on for over 25 years. What we have done so far has already changed the way people work and live. It's my life's work. There are very few people, maybe none, who combine my depth and breadth of knowledge in my field and have the skills or willingness to lead meetings (or apparently my ego).  I certainly wouldn't go if my onc advised me that it would endanger me medically but she has okayed it. I have had to skip one meeting due to chemo and will miss one due to rads.

    Wanting to go to my February meeting wasn't the only reason I didn't want to delay chemo. The tests on TCH are for it given every three weeks. Because the Taxotere and Carboplatin work on the cancer cells when they are in certain phases of their life cycle, my understanding is that the therapy is most effective when it is able to be given on schedule so I didn't want to stretch it out. My onc is confident that the reduction of dose to 90% is okay because there are different theories on the best dose and she had me toward the high end so this dose is still within the acceptable range. My last chemo may still have to be delayed - we will see how the mid-cycle blood tests go this time.

    Since all but one person in my household has symptoms of fighting a cold, I don't think I can blame the travel if I have a cold right now.

  • cupcake7
    cupcake7 Member Posts: 321
    edited January 2009

    Blue:  No I had it on the line wrong.  When I first signed in here I didn't know what a grad, stages IDC ect mean.  I guessed..lol  I was put at a stage IIIa at first cause it was in the Axillary node so they guessed it had metastasized from a tumor.  That is why they hit me with the big guns.  I am leaning on going ahead and doing the radiation because of the chest wall.  I think that is what they are going to focus on.  No use radiating the breast cause it had no cancer in it.  But there will be enough damage done.  I know if I would have had all these consultations like everyone else, but I didn't.  Yeah the number of nodes is how they decide on radiation or not.  I have that blasted cold too.  Tomorrow I have a MUGA and do not know how I am going to stay still for that long without the nose dripping, coughing, sneezing etc.  It just broke loose today.  For the past 4 days it was so tight.  So guess it is on the way of getting better.  Oh the poor nose.  I don't think it has healed from the chemo...poor thing is so tender.  My friend hasn't called yet, but after settling down from the visit today I can think more clearly tonight.  I did not come this far and let it fall now....

  • Lisa1964
    Lisa1964 Member Posts: 760
    edited January 2009

    Howdy fellow campers!

    BLUE - Yes on the nausea!  Got my tx Monday and did not take any preventitive nausea meds Monday night - usually don't need to until Tues AM.  Well, about midnight, I woke up feeling terrible, took the meds, but it was too late, by 2am - blah!!!!  Never been that sick from a tx.  I am with you that I want to go, go go, but I am realizing for this last tx, that I need to slow down or it is gonna get ugly.  Go on your trip, but pace yourself and be careful.

    CUPCAKE - I am getting a MUGA this morning too.  At least this one has no prep.  I really don't like the ones with prep involved.  They invariably mess up my already impaired digestive systems.  Sending you cyber hugs from the MUGA machine!

    BOLD - Keep up the good attitude.  A good frame of mind and a drive to stay as normal as possible is what gets us thru this.

    The temps are returning to normal here in So Fla today.  It was NOT supposed to freeze last night, but it did.  I have two old horses that won't be happy.  I am sending hubby out at "crack-o-dawn" to check on them.  I want my FL weather back.   Don't know how you northerners do it!

    17 days till my last tx - but hey, who's counting?!

    Lisa